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Quit Buying Motivation
If your team’s motivation keeps fading and you’re struggling to keep them engaged, the real issue might not be how you solve motivation—but how you define the problem in the first place.
Kenny Bhosale
February 27, 2025
Happy Thursday,
We live in a time where “motivation” has become somewhat of a commodity, that’s being sold to us by the booming $45 billion self-help industry. No wonder we're struggling to motivate and engage our people. I've been there, and so have many of our clients. But the real issue isn’t how we solve motivation—it’s how we define the problem in the first place.
🧠 LEARN something.
A senior leader I recently had coffee with shared how her company hired a celebrity speaker to “motivate” their leaders—big crowd, big venue, big expense. The top brass were chuffed with the energy in the room. Curious, I asked, “What happened after?” We both smiled because we both knew the answer—not much. This is a symptom of a larger problem in today’s fast-paced, high-energy, demanding workplace. We’re trying to buy (or outsource) motivation—through speakers, podcasts, TED talks, books, or worse, short-form videos on Instagram or TikTok. This kind of motivation is like a sugar hit—quick highs that fade fast. The more we consume, the more we crave. It’s not a sustainable strategy, and it misses a critical element: Your Leaders. It’s their job to motivate individuals and teams—but that doesn’t always happen. So here are two leadership lessons in motivation that can help you change that. The second one is crucial.
First, as leaders, we must drop the ‘hero leader’ complex—the idea that our role is to motivate and inspire others. It’s not about us, it’s about them. Real motivation comes from within. If we don’t understand a person’s values, purpose, dreams, fears, and drivers, then how can we truly motivate them? No company values or vision statement will work if people don’t see what’s in it for them and how it relates to them. Second, we need to stop treating motivation as a means to an end—a tool to drive productivity or outcomes. Instead, we need to see it as an end state in itself. This shifts the focus away from hyping people up before a big project, mission, or financial quarter, to creating an environment where motivation is the norm instead. Because ultimately, real motivation starts from within the individual and is sustained over time by the environment we create as leaders. No buzz, no motivational speakers—just good leadership and an environment that gets results!
🤔 REFLECT on an idea.
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
I love this quote, and I know it’s a bit poetic—but it holds true with much of the insights into self-motivation, which comes from Self-Determination Theory (SDT). The same principle that Daniel Pink explores in his book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. People aren’t motivated by the task, but by the meaning behind the task.
😊 SMILE a little.
I listened to a motivational speaker the other day—I felt motivated and unstoppable!
Then I had to do actual work.😂
✅ DO IT to get results.
Don’t assume or guess what motivates your people—ask them and help them uncover it instead. Get them to identify 3-5 key drivers that keep them motivated and turn it into a Motivation Scorecard. They can use it to self-assess what they truly need in the moment, and it helps you support them by removing barriers or creating the right conditions. The ownership always lies with them.
Want a template? If they’re struggling, we’re happy to share a copy of the scorecard we use with clients—five evidence-based questions you can use as a starting point in your next 1:1 or team meeting. Just REPLY to this email, and I’ll send you a copy!
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Kia pai tō wiki
Kenny Bhosale
CEO & Founder, The Bridge Leaders
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